Nature of the problem: Addiction as a chronic disorder (part 2)

In this Briefing, we continue to focus on a major problem: while addiction resembles other chronic disorders, society uses an acute model of care for treatment.

The striking similarities between severe substance use problems and chronic medical disorders do not imply that similar disease processes underlie these disorders. However, it does strongly suggest that we should be using chronic or continuing care strategies for substance addiction that resemble those used for other chronic medical disorders.

‘Importantly, the acute care model sets the field (and individuals) up to fail. This erodes long-term societal confidence in addiction treatment as a social institution.’